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Friday, October 21, 2005
Friday, October 21, 2005
Calendar
10/24 All-staff In-service day – School closed, no childcare
10/28 Halloween celebration and parade
10/30 Daylight Saving Time ends
11/4 Silent Journey
11/9 Core meeting 5 pm
11/11 Veteran’s Day – School closed, no childcare
11/11 – 11/14 Cody’s School Benefit Daze 2005
SCHOOL CLOSED, MONDAY, OCT. 24
GLM is closed all day, Monday, Oct. 24, for an all-staff in-service day. There will be no childcare provided.
All teachers are observing and material-making in the morning. Inventories for earthquake preparedness will be made, carpentry and electrical repairs, and painting will be done. Alarm systems will be tested in all buildings.
In the afternoon GLM will host Ginni Sackett, a Montessori trainer from Portland, OR. She will provide training for all in language development, age 3-6 vs. 6-12. She will also be exploring “The Adult as a Language Material: How to structure our relationships with children in ways that match the developmental motivations”.
TEACHER ILLNESS RAMPANT AT GLM
Approximately 3 teachers a day have succumbed to flu symptoms which start without warning. We have been providing continuity with substitutes Valerie Basom, Faye Owens, Elaine Mezzio, and Grace Mollel.
CONDOLENCES
GLM staff and families send their condolences to Awa Dia and her family. Our thoughts are with Ms. Dia who received word this week of the sudden death of her sister in Africa. She is on bereavement leave. Allison Brooks is substituting in her place.
SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that begins with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “G”, as in Gill, Globe and Gust. Remember, the sound can also be in the middle or at the end of a word: h-u-G.
HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION AT GLM
Children celebrate Halloween in different ways in every family. Some families have parties, some make costumes, others make an expedition of trick or treating. The school celebration is not a duplication of the family event, but a sensorial exploration within the school day of a holiday in our culture. Very young children usually just like to observe, and selectively participate in the unusual goings-on. The school celebrations are kid friendly and have a definite beginning, middle, and ending, so children can enjoy the novelty, and be reassured of the habitualness of the program. There are 3 very distinct age groups: toddler, preschoolers, and K-6 school-age. The event is planned with the children. Discussions are held at group time, songs are taught, and crafts are designed to acknowledge the coming of autumn.
The children know that on the designated day they will come to school with costumes over their street clothes (IF THEY WISH). The children have usual drop off rituals and share with classmates.
We will do our parade and celebration this year on Friday, Oct. 28th.
8:30 AM - Children come to the playgrounds with their teachers.
8:45 AM - Brief parade on asphalt playground with elementary students leading.
PARENT OBSERVERS NEED TO GATHER ALONG THE OUTER PERIMETER FENCING SO CHILDREN HAVE ROOM TO PARADE.
Children are free to observe, and not participate.
9-9:45 AM - Children are invited to rove the play-yards and choose from the activities set up by each classroom. Children do not have to do every craft, or visit every station.
9:45-10 AM - Parent helpers say goodbye, children are invited to individual class lunch areas to sing, snack and conclude the celebration.
CODY’S SCHOOL BENEFIT DAZE 2005
Nov. 11 – 14 Cody’s Books will host their annual school benefit. Cody’s designates 4 shopping days at their 3 Bay Area stores and via the website to benefit schools, both public and private. In a nutshell: books bought, receipts collected, receipts submitted, check/credit sent! Buy books, magazines, journals, calendars, stationary and cards, special orders, and Internet orders, turn the receipts into the school office and Cody’s writes a commission check as follows:
15% of net sales in cash or 25% of net sales in store credit for the school.
This is a great opportunity to do your gift and holiday buying and help raise money for GLM!
A CHILD’S OBSERVATION
Overheard during the morning drop-off at Lake Park:
A Live Oak child to parent, “Ms. Michel got married and now she’s Mrs. Cebulski, but I don’t understand – she still looks like Ms. Michel.”
LOST BRACELET
Ms. Leck lost an orange Bakelite bracelet some time this week while at school. If you find it, please return it to the Jacaranda class or the office. Thank you.
CLASS NEWS
REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
Last week we celebrated Zoe's 8th birthday. Happy birthday Zoe!
The sixth years made Challah bread. It was delicious! Kennedy and Crystal also made cinnamon bread this week. The children really enjoying finding bread recipes and deciding what they will bake throughout the week. We usually bake two different types of bread per week for our morning snack. I also encourage the children to bring recipes from home. It is nice to have the children organize their own baking recipes as well.
The children are growing increasingly excited about our Halloween festival. Please remember that it is next Friday and not on the Halloween date this year. The children also need to arrive in their costumes and bring a change of clothes. The children will be playing games and doing crafts in class after the all-school celebration. Please send your child in comfortable clothing as we do have dance on Fridays.
Thank you so much to Mariana for purchasing some much needed extra art supplies for our class! We now have new pencils, tracing, sketch, and watercolor paper. She also put together one of our two auction projects. Please mark your date for the wine and cheese auction as the project is a must have for every family! And yes, we are keeping it a secret...well, somewhat of a secret!
The second years are very busy adding another animal to their group animal kingdom chart...the avis. They have also been quite involved with their 2 digit long multiplication that they are learning. Yeah second years!
The third years also added new animals to their animal kingdom classification charts: the Class Arthropoda, and with the Phyla, Pycongonida, Crustacea, and Merostamata. They are also really busy with their research on animals from each of those phyla and checked out many books from the library to help them out.
The fourth years have been focusing on the Native American tribes of the Woodlands. They are researching the fundamental need of shelter and have chosen two Manin tribes in which they can make mini models of their homes: the Algonquin and the Iroquois.
The sixth years have begun the study of simple machines. They are researching how to make their own simple machine here at school.
Some infamous children quotes:
"Ms. Rankins, I hit my head on something but I'm not sure what it was...it was either Eric or a pole!" - Zachary Gamble
"I'm not sure who was there when I was born...I know my dad was but I'm not sure if my mom was!" - Zoe Godfrey-Grinage
"Hey, you’re Jaquez's mom and a teacher in elementary...wait a minute, does that mean you can grow babies?" - Jeremy Rotenburg
"You know Ms. Rankins, the Muslims and the Christians are still fighting over Jerusalem and the Crusades were a really long time ago! I think they need Second Step!" - Clare
JACARANDA
Please see the Jacaranda Halloween sign-up for the all-school Halloween celebration Friday, October 28, 2005. This is a thrilling time for the children and adults, and we welcome volunteers who are able to come in for just a short time on Friday morning.
Volunteers are also invited to material making sessions with other parents. New materials for the classroom are time-intensive works, often involving cutting, laminating and other activities with which the Jacaranda teachers always need help. Please email Nancy Appel for more information.
Thanks also to Nancy for the photos on the poster board of the Jacaranda class making baked goods for the elementary-sponsored Katrina relief effort.
And finally, thanks to Kristin Talley for her help with Play-doh making for the past year. She is ready for another parent to take over, and will give a quick lesson to the next volunteer who will take over this essential but really easy job!
The class has been reading and listening to the story of "Abiyoyo," an imaginary giant who is made to disappear through the use of a ukulele and a little magic.
Overheard in the Jacaranda classroom: "I'm trying to write my 'eights,' but they keep falling down!"
A group of kids went on a walk with Ms. Leck and collected leaves for "parts of the leaf" labeling: margin, main vein, side veins, etc. Children love to move and learn, and the Montessori classroom meets both of these needs on a daily basis.
The children laid concrete circles in the garden outside the Jacaranda classroom in the next step in preparing the space for flowers and vegetables.
Sometimes, it is easy to forget how much the children ease into the classroom after a rough morning drop-off. This morning, the children described themselves as "snappy" and "great"!
JUNIPER
We are a big school and continuing to grow - with lower Lake Park Campus and upper Juniper/Jacaranda Campus. Because we are such a big school, we are working hard to bridge the gap and build a cohesive community. To that end, Ms. Olivares from Lake Park will teach Spanish to Juniper/Jacaranda every Tuesday, beginning October 25.
In dealing with normal children, we must await the spontaneous investigation of the surroundings. When this investigation is allowed, the children experience a joy of fresh discovery. They are conscious of a sense of dignity and satisfaction that encourages them to seek new sensations from their environment and to make themselves spontaneous observers.
As we work on bridging gaps at school, don't forget to sign-up for an observation of your child's class. In this way, we can also continue to bridge the gap between home and school.
LIVE OAK
Due to overwhelming illness among staff there is no newsletter contribution for the Live Oak class this week. We will catch you up on everything next week.
However, we do wish to thank Keiley Thompson’s dad, Rahsaan, for coming in on Friday to make delicious banana bread with the children. The classroom smelled heavenly!
Don’t forget, school is closed on Monday, and our Halloween celebration is Friday morning!
GINKGO
This week the sound of the week was "F". This is a popular sound and lot of children participated bringing Fan, Flashlight, Frog, Fish, Firetruck, and even a "Funny Face".
We had an elementary student come to our class, Angelina Harris, on Wednesday to read to us. The children really enjoyed listening to her a lot. She told the class that she would try to come in on a weekly basis. Thank you, Angelina!
Remember our Halloween celebration is Friday, October 28, 2005. If you want to sign up to help with activities that day, the sign up sheet is on the clipboard.
Reminder: School is closed Monday, October 24, 2005.
Have a great weekend!
MAGNOLIA
What crazy fall weather we are having! Please make sure to dress your child in layers as it may be very chilly in the morning and very warm in the afternoon. Also make sure you are still applying sunscreen in the morning.
A big happy birthday to Isaiah Lenoue, who turned 4. He brought a beautiful print of a Magnolia flower from the SF Botanical Garden magnolia exhibit. Ms. Olivares had been seeing that very print all over the city and wishing she had one for the class! Thank you very much.
Thank you, everyone, for responding so quickly to Ms. Olivares’ request for volunteers for Halloween. We are all looking forward to the celebration!
MULBERRY
This week the children have been having fun searching for spider webs outside. They keep looking for the spider that lives in the web and, of course, singing “The Itsy, Bitsy Spider”.
The sound of the week was "F" and the children really enjoy playing “Eye spy with my little eye something in the basket that begins with... F”. Ethan F. brought in flan to share with the class. Some of the children weren't quite sure about the texture!
Halloween is quickly approaching and next week we will be creating a pumpkin patch in front of the Brown Cottage. We are asking each child to contribute a pumpkin to the patch at the beginning of the week. If you wanted to sign up to help at our Halloween celebration on Friday, Oct. 28, the sign up sheet is on the clipboard.
Song of the week:
The witch is here to stay. The witch is here to stay. Hi, ho, it's Halloween, the witch is here to stay.
The witch takes the bat. The witch takes the bat. Hi, ho, it's Halloween, the witch takes the bat. The bat takes the ghost. The bat takes the ghost. Hi, ho, it's Halloween, the bat takes the ghost. (Continue, adding black cat, spider, candy corn, and jack-o-lantern.)
CAMELLIA
Thank you again to all the parents who help their children bring something for Sound of the Week. The children really enjoy it! This week was the "F" sound, and we had Feather, Frog, Flower, Flag, Football, Fish and Frame. A very popular sound! Next week will be "G" (examples: Grapes, Grass, and Glue).
Parents: Please bring in a small, toddler-size pumpkin for our pumpkin patch before Friday Oct. 28. Thank you to all the parents who signed up to help with our craft table for our Halloween celebrations on the 28th.
Song of the week "Jump Jim Joe":
(everyone holds hands with their partner, and acts out the song)
"Jump, jump, jump Jim Joe,
Shake your head, tap your toe,
Around and round we go.
Now we stop and choose another partner."
Thank you to Zoe, from elementary, who came in this week and read to our class.
Reminder: GLM is closed on Monday Oct, 24, 2005, for a staff in-service day. There will be no childcare provided.
Calendar
10/24 All-staff In-service day – School closed, no childcare
10/28 Halloween celebration and parade
10/30 Daylight Saving Time ends
11/4 Silent Journey
11/9 Core meeting 5 pm
11/11 Veteran’s Day – School closed, no childcare
11/11 – 11/14 Cody’s School Benefit Daze 2005
SCHOOL CLOSED, MONDAY, OCT. 24
GLM is closed all day, Monday, Oct. 24, for an all-staff in-service day. There will be no childcare provided.
All teachers are observing and material-making in the morning. Inventories for earthquake preparedness will be made, carpentry and electrical repairs, and painting will be done. Alarm systems will be tested in all buildings.
In the afternoon GLM will host Ginni Sackett, a Montessori trainer from Portland, OR. She will provide training for all in language development, age 3-6 vs. 6-12. She will also be exploring “The Adult as a Language Material: How to structure our relationships with children in ways that match the developmental motivations”.
TEACHER ILLNESS RAMPANT AT GLM
Approximately 3 teachers a day have succumbed to flu symptoms which start without warning. We have been providing continuity with substitutes Valerie Basom, Faye Owens, Elaine Mezzio, and Grace Mollel.
CONDOLENCES
GLM staff and families send their condolences to Awa Dia and her family. Our thoughts are with Ms. Dia who received word this week of the sudden death of her sister in Africa. She is on bereavement leave. Allison Brooks is substituting in her place.
SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that begins with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “G”, as in Gill, Globe and Gust. Remember, the sound can also be in the middle or at the end of a word: h-u-G.
HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION AT GLM
Children celebrate Halloween in different ways in every family. Some families have parties, some make costumes, others make an expedition of trick or treating. The school celebration is not a duplication of the family event, but a sensorial exploration within the school day of a holiday in our culture. Very young children usually just like to observe, and selectively participate in the unusual goings-on. The school celebrations are kid friendly and have a definite beginning, middle, and ending, so children can enjoy the novelty, and be reassured of the habitualness of the program. There are 3 very distinct age groups: toddler, preschoolers, and K-6 school-age. The event is planned with the children. Discussions are held at group time, songs are taught, and crafts are designed to acknowledge the coming of autumn.
The children know that on the designated day they will come to school with costumes over their street clothes (IF THEY WISH). The children have usual drop off rituals and share with classmates.
We will do our parade and celebration this year on Friday, Oct. 28th.
8:30 AM - Children come to the playgrounds with their teachers.
8:45 AM - Brief parade on asphalt playground with elementary students leading.
PARENT OBSERVERS NEED TO GATHER ALONG THE OUTER PERIMETER FENCING SO CHILDREN HAVE ROOM TO PARADE.
Children are free to observe, and not participate.
9-9:45 AM - Children are invited to rove the play-yards and choose from the activities set up by each classroom. Children do not have to do every craft, or visit every station.
9:45-10 AM - Parent helpers say goodbye, children are invited to individual class lunch areas to sing, snack and conclude the celebration.
CODY’S SCHOOL BENEFIT DAZE 2005
Nov. 11 – 14 Cody’s Books will host their annual school benefit. Cody’s designates 4 shopping days at their 3 Bay Area stores and via the website to benefit schools, both public and private. In a nutshell: books bought, receipts collected, receipts submitted, check/credit sent! Buy books, magazines, journals, calendars, stationary and cards, special orders, and Internet orders, turn the receipts into the school office and Cody’s writes a commission check as follows:
15% of net sales in cash or 25% of net sales in store credit for the school.
This is a great opportunity to do your gift and holiday buying and help raise money for GLM!
A CHILD’S OBSERVATION
Overheard during the morning drop-off at Lake Park:
A Live Oak child to parent, “Ms. Michel got married and now she’s Mrs. Cebulski, but I don’t understand – she still looks like Ms. Michel.”
LOST BRACELET
Ms. Leck lost an orange Bakelite bracelet some time this week while at school. If you find it, please return it to the Jacaranda class or the office. Thank you.
CLASS NEWS
REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
Last week we celebrated Zoe's 8th birthday. Happy birthday Zoe!
The sixth years made Challah bread. It was delicious! Kennedy and Crystal also made cinnamon bread this week. The children really enjoying finding bread recipes and deciding what they will bake throughout the week. We usually bake two different types of bread per week for our morning snack. I also encourage the children to bring recipes from home. It is nice to have the children organize their own baking recipes as well.
The children are growing increasingly excited about our Halloween festival. Please remember that it is next Friday and not on the Halloween date this year. The children also need to arrive in their costumes and bring a change of clothes. The children will be playing games and doing crafts in class after the all-school celebration. Please send your child in comfortable clothing as we do have dance on Fridays.
Thank you so much to Mariana for purchasing some much needed extra art supplies for our class! We now have new pencils, tracing, sketch, and watercolor paper. She also put together one of our two auction projects. Please mark your date for the wine and cheese auction as the project is a must have for every family! And yes, we are keeping it a secret...well, somewhat of a secret!
The second years are very busy adding another animal to their group animal kingdom chart...the avis. They have also been quite involved with their 2 digit long multiplication that they are learning. Yeah second years!
The third years also added new animals to their animal kingdom classification charts: the Class Arthropoda, and with the Phyla, Pycongonida, Crustacea, and Merostamata. They are also really busy with their research on animals from each of those phyla and checked out many books from the library to help them out.
The fourth years have been focusing on the Native American tribes of the Woodlands. They are researching the fundamental need of shelter and have chosen two Manin tribes in which they can make mini models of their homes: the Algonquin and the Iroquois.
The sixth years have begun the study of simple machines. They are researching how to make their own simple machine here at school.
Some infamous children quotes:
"Ms. Rankins, I hit my head on something but I'm not sure what it was...it was either Eric or a pole!" - Zachary Gamble
"I'm not sure who was there when I was born...I know my dad was but I'm not sure if my mom was!" - Zoe Godfrey-Grinage
"Hey, you’re Jaquez's mom and a teacher in elementary...wait a minute, does that mean you can grow babies?" - Jeremy Rotenburg
"You know Ms. Rankins, the Muslims and the Christians are still fighting over Jerusalem and the Crusades were a really long time ago! I think they need Second Step!" - Clare
JACARANDA
Please see the Jacaranda Halloween sign-up for the all-school Halloween celebration Friday, October 28, 2005. This is a thrilling time for the children and adults, and we welcome volunteers who are able to come in for just a short time on Friday morning.
Volunteers are also invited to material making sessions with other parents. New materials for the classroom are time-intensive works, often involving cutting, laminating and other activities with which the Jacaranda teachers always need help. Please email Nancy Appel for more information.
Thanks also to Nancy for the photos on the poster board of the Jacaranda class making baked goods for the elementary-sponsored Katrina relief effort.
And finally, thanks to Kristin Talley for her help with Play-doh making for the past year. She is ready for another parent to take over, and will give a quick lesson to the next volunteer who will take over this essential but really easy job!
The class has been reading and listening to the story of "Abiyoyo," an imaginary giant who is made to disappear through the use of a ukulele and a little magic.
Overheard in the Jacaranda classroom: "I'm trying to write my 'eights,' but they keep falling down!"
A group of kids went on a walk with Ms. Leck and collected leaves for "parts of the leaf" labeling: margin, main vein, side veins, etc. Children love to move and learn, and the Montessori classroom meets both of these needs on a daily basis.
The children laid concrete circles in the garden outside the Jacaranda classroom in the next step in preparing the space for flowers and vegetables.
Sometimes, it is easy to forget how much the children ease into the classroom after a rough morning drop-off. This morning, the children described themselves as "snappy" and "great"!
JUNIPER
We are a big school and continuing to grow - with lower Lake Park Campus and upper Juniper/Jacaranda Campus. Because we are such a big school, we are working hard to bridge the gap and build a cohesive community. To that end, Ms. Olivares from Lake Park will teach Spanish to Juniper/Jacaranda every Tuesday, beginning October 25.
In dealing with normal children, we must await the spontaneous investigation of the surroundings. When this investigation is allowed, the children experience a joy of fresh discovery. They are conscious of a sense of dignity and satisfaction that encourages them to seek new sensations from their environment and to make themselves spontaneous observers.
As we work on bridging gaps at school, don't forget to sign-up for an observation of your child's class. In this way, we can also continue to bridge the gap between home and school.
LIVE OAK
Due to overwhelming illness among staff there is no newsletter contribution for the Live Oak class this week. We will catch you up on everything next week.
However, we do wish to thank Keiley Thompson’s dad, Rahsaan, for coming in on Friday to make delicious banana bread with the children. The classroom smelled heavenly!
Don’t forget, school is closed on Monday, and our Halloween celebration is Friday morning!
GINKGO
This week the sound of the week was "F". This is a popular sound and lot of children participated bringing Fan, Flashlight, Frog, Fish, Firetruck, and even a "Funny Face".
We had an elementary student come to our class, Angelina Harris, on Wednesday to read to us. The children really enjoyed listening to her a lot. She told the class that she would try to come in on a weekly basis. Thank you, Angelina!
Remember our Halloween celebration is Friday, October 28, 2005. If you want to sign up to help with activities that day, the sign up sheet is on the clipboard.
Reminder: School is closed Monday, October 24, 2005.
Have a great weekend!
MAGNOLIA
What crazy fall weather we are having! Please make sure to dress your child in layers as it may be very chilly in the morning and very warm in the afternoon. Also make sure you are still applying sunscreen in the morning.
A big happy birthday to Isaiah Lenoue, who turned 4. He brought a beautiful print of a Magnolia flower from the SF Botanical Garden magnolia exhibit. Ms. Olivares had been seeing that very print all over the city and wishing she had one for the class! Thank you very much.
Thank you, everyone, for responding so quickly to Ms. Olivares’ request for volunteers for Halloween. We are all looking forward to the celebration!
MULBERRY
This week the children have been having fun searching for spider webs outside. They keep looking for the spider that lives in the web and, of course, singing “The Itsy, Bitsy Spider”.
The sound of the week was "F" and the children really enjoy playing “Eye spy with my little eye something in the basket that begins with... F”. Ethan F. brought in flan to share with the class. Some of the children weren't quite sure about the texture!
Halloween is quickly approaching and next week we will be creating a pumpkin patch in front of the Brown Cottage. We are asking each child to contribute a pumpkin to the patch at the beginning of the week. If you wanted to sign up to help at our Halloween celebration on Friday, Oct. 28, the sign up sheet is on the clipboard.
Song of the week:
The witch is here to stay. The witch is here to stay. Hi, ho, it's Halloween, the witch is here to stay.
The witch takes the bat. The witch takes the bat. Hi, ho, it's Halloween, the witch takes the bat. The bat takes the ghost. The bat takes the ghost. Hi, ho, it's Halloween, the bat takes the ghost. (Continue, adding black cat, spider, candy corn, and jack-o-lantern.)
CAMELLIA
Thank you again to all the parents who help their children bring something for Sound of the Week. The children really enjoy it! This week was the "F" sound, and we had Feather, Frog, Flower, Flag, Football, Fish and Frame. A very popular sound! Next week will be "G" (examples: Grapes, Grass, and Glue).
Parents: Please bring in a small, toddler-size pumpkin for our pumpkin patch before Friday Oct. 28. Thank you to all the parents who signed up to help with our craft table for our Halloween celebrations on the 28th.
Song of the week "Jump Jim Joe":
(everyone holds hands with their partner, and acts out the song)
"Jump, jump, jump Jim Joe,
Shake your head, tap your toe,
Around and round we go.
Now we stop and choose another partner."
Thank you to Zoe, from elementary, who came in this week and read to our class.
Reminder: GLM is closed on Monday Oct, 24, 2005, for a staff in-service day. There will be no childcare provided.
